Ghostbusters Believe
by BrenRome
Summary: Years after the Ghostbusters vanished off the face of the earth, a new team comes together to stop a new threat to New York and the world at large. (I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes ONLY so PLEASE don't sue!)
1. 26 Years Later

**Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful Halloween. As a present, I've decided to do something unexpected and begin a new fanfic. One which might surprise you as it's my own Ghostbusters Fanfic which I haven't done in a while. But it's for good reason. My first forary into the Ghostbusters Fanfiction Ring was…bad. Really bad. I'm not going to sugarcoat this and come out completely honest with anyone who reads this; I did not know how to write for Ghostbusters at the time outside of recycling elements from the movies and cartoons. One of my stories was SO bad, that a fanfiction review site listed it among their worst stories ever, and rightfully so. I've deleted it since then, but I did one more story a couple years ago based on a deleted scene from the 2009 game. However, that was a one-off deal and again, I was trying to fill in gaps from an unmade level that only exists in YouTube videos highlighting what could've been. But yeah, I've reconnected with Ghostbusters despite the film last year. I'll be honest here also; I didn't think the reboot was entirely without merit. It had some interesting ideas, potential for new technology, but did not take advantage of exploring those new concepts instead opting for a quick cash-grab that tried to be empowering towards women, but instead came off as Female Superiority over Men at the expense of a punching bag. "But BrenRome," I hear you say, "Wonder Woman was a success, and that was a female-led film!" Well, yes. I enjoyed that movie a lot and find it to be #1 on my films of 2017. But there's a reason why. Wonder Woman had both female and Male characters who were competent and smart, and took its time with big reveals, action and jokes, keeping them all happening at an appropriate time when the film called for such moments. The feminism messages in there can be identified as what the audience member takes away in addition to the themes of war, peace, disarmament, and what one's belief can do for a person. Ghostbusters was simply 'Women rule and all guys are either stupid, sexist, evil, or racist.' Which is not the case at all. I mentioned how I was at least intrigued by the tech designs. No, some of my other problems also came with the tone of the film. The first two films (plus the game,) had a semi-more psychological minor theme to them that's meant more for adults than kids to varying degrees. Some have argued that the reboot is geared towards little kids, but then they really push the sexual reverse-ditzy angle with Kevin Beekman to an almost disgusting level. So, the reboot doesn't really seem to know who it's marketing to. Plus, you can't say that it's impossible to do adult subjects in media aimed at kids. Many of DC's animated shows have done this, and even the Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters managed to pull this off at times. On that note, a better defense I've heard for this film is that it's essentially an adaptation of the Real Ghostbusters animated series, which I can kind-of see. From its more child-like humor, to the more stylized ghosts…you could even argue that the designs for Abby and Holtzmann is the film trying to emulate the animated versions of Ray and Egon respectively. That's fine as well. Except again, there's a number of fair points that can be made here against that claim. First, the Real Ghostbusters Cartoon treated everybody (ghosts that weren't a Level 7 or straight-up-evil threat included) equally (as Janine herself occasionally used a proton pack a number of times in the series and was a valued member of the team) even having an episode where a boy was bullied for liking the Ghostbusters and by the end became an honorary member, with the team even showing up with him to tell the bullies not to judge someone by who they are. Second, it doesn't aesthetically look like The Real Ghostbusters series which was bright and colorful while this film is shot like a regular Hollywood film with the only color coming from the generic neon-colored ghosts (even the Extreme Ghostbusters as 90's color-palate-based as it was, still found ways of making the ghosts seem unique and different to stand separate from how the regular people looked). Third, The Real Ghostbusters (with the exception of the majority of the years that followed in shifting the cast,) still maintained the seriousness of threats to our heroes like the movies did. So yeah, all this is me saying that I don't think the remake killed my childhood just because there were women in there. If anything, it makes me appreciate the originals more. I just think that them saying women are perfect without any flaws and that every man on the face of the planet should be labeled as a sexist, misogynistic, racist pig is something that shouldn't be taught to kids (especially little girls). And I'm not naïve. I know there were (and still are) some legitimate racists and sexists who were out there that bashed the trailers for the reboot unfairly. If any of those people are listening, please disappear of the face of the earth and retreat to the nearest convenient parallel dimension. But in my opinion, I feel as though there were other complaints in the mix who had legitimate problems along the ones I had who the filmmakers should've listened to, but decided not to and instead wrongly label ANYONE with ANY sort of disagreement as a sexist or racist. I'm the kind of person who believes that if we're going to get through these next few years, we should be united as one equally rather than not swallowing our prides and working separately in groups as opposed to working together. So yeah, I said all this to avoid having to explain my thoughts on the remake and to explain why despite me not liking it, I still see some elements that should've been focused on more and perhaps would've made the reboot a bit more enjoyable, and that this rant has nothing at all to do with me either hating women or being a racist. So now hopefully you will respect my backed-up opinions and if not, that's okay. Just try not to make a big deal. So with that said, this story is based on how I would've handled a new Ghostbusters film (and Aykroyd, on the EXTREMELY slim off-chance you get to see this story, feel free to take as much inspiration from it as you like). There'll be elements from all the various versions of the franchise over the years, but it's my attempt to write a story that honors the past and introduces the new similar to the Force Awakens. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and finally, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes ONLY so PLEASE don't sue! Enjoy!**

 _ **New York, May 2017…**_

In New York City, there were a couple of sites people could find that told the rich history of the Big Apple. One such place was a burned down area which remained undisturbed and untouched for many years. It was located near the Queens-Midtown Tunnel between two brick apartment buildings. The area itself was very wide as it had once been one of the few movie studios located on the East Coast during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Today, a college professor was showing her film students the remains as an attempt to teach them how to make a documentary film.

"So this area," The Professor explained, "Was once the site of Rocksberg Studios. Unlike the other studios on the West Coast at the time, the owner had to use his life-savings to fund the studios. Whatever money his studio could make with their films, he took as much as he could spare to make ends meet."

She brought up an iPad featuring a black-and-white image of a well-dressed gentleman who appeared in the clothes of a 1920's Hollywood Director. He had a very jovial smile on his face and seemed quite pleasant, but it appeared from the look on the teacher's face that things were going to get grim really quickly.

"You see…" She continued, "Shane Rocksberg believed in making the films he wanted to make. Naturally people soon started ignoring him with the advent of film techniques we take for granted nowadays. Soon, he had almost no money left to run the studio and would eventually have to either sell the studio or file for bankruptcy. But Mr. Rocksberg saw this as his life's work. He decided that he wouldn't let anyone else have the studio and thus burned the area to the ground along with himself. Since then, there've been attempts in recent years to build something else over the studio despite many feeling it should be left well enough alone for those who died. But there were…unexplained things that occurred. People have come out the following day insisting they wouldn't ever work on that area again and nobody can find a reason why."

Instantly a hand shot up from the crowd of students. The students parted ways revealing who it was that raised their hand. It was a young woman with a short brunette bobbed haircut. She wore large circular glasses which brought out her light-blue eyes. She put her hand down and coughed nervously.

"Maybe…maybe it's because the place really is haunted?" The young girl suggested.

At this, the entire crowd laughed at her. Even the professor couldn't help but shake her head in embarrassment. Eden Donai was a bright intelligent girl with the highest scores recorded for someone who was majoring in physics and engineering. Eden only took this class at her Mother's insistence to look into other future job possibilities, but it was clear she wasn't cut out for this sort of career.

Eden was about to suggest that since nobody could explain anything logically, then perhaps the real answer would be from something that would otherwise be seemingly impossible unless all other possibilities couldn't be supported. However, she never got the chance as the professor spoke first.

"Okay everyone." She said, "Go around and see what you can find. If you did your homework assignments, you should be able to identify things that correspond to the information in your packets. Be sure to take videos and photos, and jot down notes. Your assignment in two weeks will be to make a short documentary based on what you discover here today with your backup proof.

With that, everyone went their separate ways until only the professor was left alone. She sighed finally glad to have a couple of minutes to herself when she suddenly heard what appeared to be a banging noise. Curious, she turned around and noticed a cellar door on the ground. Suddenly, the cellar door opened up revealing a series of stairs. For some reason, the professor felt drawn to it and slowly went down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, she realized that she was in some kind of editing room. There were burnt film reels hanging from the wall and there were a pair of scissors and dried-up film development dishes on a lone table. Unbeknownst to the professor, a mysterious trench-coated figure had somehow materialized behind her without having made a single sound. He looked at her as his eyes flashed red for a brief second.

Without warning, her phone suddenly rang. She spun around unable to catch sight of the intruder who had disappeared just as effectively as he'd appeared. She pulled out her phone and answered.

"Yes?" She asked, "Yes, I'm at the site now. When do you get out? 7:00. Want to catch dinner and a movie?"

As she continued to talk to her friend, she was unaware of a red mist forming around her feet.

"Well, okay then." She concluded, "It's settled. I'll see you after class. Take care. You too. Bye."

With that she hung up and put her phone away. As soon as she did. The mist turned into two human hands and grabbed her feet. Now feeling the cold sensation, she looked down and screamed loudly. The professor attempted to move but the mists were like two physical hands holding her down which only made her trip and fall, hitting her chin on the third step. She groaned in pain but got another idea. She outstretched her hand and grabbed one of the steps above her. With all her might, she began to pull as though she were in the middle of a deadly tug-of-war game. The hands were holding on tightly, but she could slowly feel herself moving upwards. She continued to climb the steps, getting closer and closer to the top of the stairs. In her rush to escape, she failed to notice that she was inadvertently pulling the hands up with her. As she got higher, the hand was pulled up revealing the mists had arms as well.

Finally, the professor made it to the top and back to where she'd began. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she felt herself suddenly yanked hard in the opposite direction and back down the stairs. She fell, landing on the back of her head in pain. She groaned as she attempted to regain her sense.

Once she did, she soon wished she hadn't.

The mist was forming into the shape of a human-looking figure. One that did not look at all friendly. As it got closer, the mists started to edge ever-so-closer to the Professor's face as she could only scream in terror.

 **(A/N: At this point here, the red mist would form into the Ghostbusters Logo, accompanied by the Ray Parker Jr. Theme and the titles.)**

 _Ghostbusters: Believe_

Over in New Jersey at Hervin's High School, Michael 'Mike' Gerald was in the middle of practicing some rope climbing with his Phys-Ed students. Mike was a young man with short dirty blonde hair who enjoyed his job helping kids stay fit and sharp, having once dealt with bullying long ago, he understood the need to help kids prepare to avoid any such complications in the future.

"Remember!" Mike called, "If someone falls, help them back up. That's what separates us as human beings from animals."

Mike allowed his eyes to wander briefly for a short second as he saw a raven-haired female assistant teacher approaching.

"Excuse me, Coach Gerald…" The woman said, "Sorry to interrupt, but there's a man here to see you."

Mike looked confused, but agreed to follow her. She led him to a waiting room and allowed him to peer inside. At which point Mike recognized the figure and felt his heart sink.

It had been years since Mike had known the visitor, but he knew him all-too-well. He had green eyes, a long nose, and a rather large chin. His hair was long and dark, with a stylized comb-over that parted partially to the right. He was dressed in a leather jacket and blue jeans with a blue-and-white striped button-down shirt topped off with white trainers.

Mike shook his head in denial.

"What?" The assistant asked, "Do you know him."

"Unfortunately." Mike groaned, slapping his face, "Can you ask him to leave?"

"I did." The woman answered simply, "Three times. He said he wouldn't leave until he spoke with you."

Mike pinched his eyes. Vincent Alexander was persistent if anything. Except for that one time back when they were friends, of course. Said incident led to their friendship ending and Vincent leaving seemingly forever.

"Look…" The female assistant teacher reasoned, "If you talk to him and get him to go, I'll go out on a date with you. Fair enough?"

Mike took a deep breath. While he didn't ever want to speak with Vincent ever again, he was a gentleman and desperately in need of a romantic relationship after so many botched ones during his college years.

"Okay." He said, "I'll talk to him."

Mike opened the door and Vincent looked up with the wild grin of a madman.

"Michael!" Vincent exclaimed in his thick English accent, "It's so good to see you again!"

"I wish I could say the same." Mike replied sarcastically, "What the hell are you still doing here, Vin?"

"Ah, yes." Vincent noted, "About that. Well, I've still been researching the paranormal…just hear me out! A few hours ago, I got a call about a sighting at Rocksberg Studios in New York. Apparently there was some kind of manifestation that scared some college professor half-to-death!"

"That's all well and good." Mike quickly said, "Go on down to New York, record what you need to, and you can see me never again."

"Oh no." Vincent pointed out, "I need you with me. I can't take down notes and use the equipment I have at the same time."

"You really think I'd go on what could be a wild goose chase with you after what happened last time?" Mike questioned.

"Well, if you're not going to help, I'll simply stay here until you agree to go with me." Vincent declared, standing his ground, "And if you arrest me, I'll keep coming back as many times as it takes until you agree to come."

Mike sighed. He remembered Vincent almost never broke a promise when they were friends. Aside from the incident that drove a wedge between them, Vincent had always followed through with his promises no matter what came in the way. From the tone of his voice, Vincent sounded like he'd stay true to his word and it would cause some trouble to Mike's current job.

"You haven't changed one bit." He muttered under his breath, "All right. Fine. I'll come."

….

 _ **Later, New York…**_

Mike and Vincent arrived later in the afternoon and were instantly met by the college students who were tending to The Professor who was muttering something repeatedly about how "he reached out and physically grabbed me." One of the students, a young woman by the name of Eden Donai, filled them in. Apparently, everyone else had gone their separate ways to jot down notes and take photos for a documentary assignment when they heard a scream. They ran to where they'd entered to find a cellar door open with their professor lying at the bottom muttering the same thing she was raving about now.

Both Mike and Vincent felt like the girl was somewhat familiar. She had one of those appearances where one might've seen her before, but neither could tell from where exactly.

Vincent was in the middle of 'scanning' the area as he called it using his 'equipment.' Said equipment was a device that looked like a cross between a small leaf-blower and a compact radio. Mike took down the notes as he interviewed Eden.

"And there's been no such reports of her or her family doing drugs, having mental illnesses or the like?" Mike asked.

"No." Eden assured, "She was kind of stuck-up, but even then, whatever did this to her…I don't think she deserved this…"

"Mike!" Vincent called out, "I got something."

He motioned over to the cellar door as Eden followed, curious about where this might all lead.

"I've got a massive reading coming from down there." Vincent pointed out.

"Okay, thanks." Mike said, "Eden, you'd better stay up here."

Eden, however, was not listening to him. She was focused more on the cellar door which she could swear she was hearing voices coming from. Very softly, but definitely voices.

 _Eden…Eden…_

"Eden?" Mike asked, "Are you all right?"

"I think I should go with you." Eden explained, "After all, I'm the one who called Vincent."

"Alright." Mike sighed, "Just stay behind us, okay?"

Eden nodded. The three went down the cellar steps. Vincent took lead followed by Mike and finally Eden. As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the three gasped.

Floating in front of a table, was a red transparent figure. He was a bit on the hefty side and wore a waistcoat and pants that one would expect to see from the late 1920s. His hair was thinning and he had a handlebar moustache. The figure was inspecting some film reels on the table.

"Son of a bitch." Mike swore, "Vincent, you weren't kidding."

Vincent didn't reply and simply brought up his iPhone, and held it so that the camera was capturing the figure.

"I recognize that thing." Eden breathed, "That's Shane Rocksberg! He used to own this studio before he nearly went bankrupt and burned the studio down before he could lose it."

Mike looked at her shocked.

"Did you say 'burn?'" He questioned.

He looked back at the figure who slowly put down the film and turned to look at the three.

"Uh, Vincent?" Mike asked, "You might want to put the phone away?"

Vincent did not reply.

"Vincent?" Mike asked, "Vince?"

All of a sudden, the red manifestation suddenly turned orange. The eyeballs disappeared and his body appeared to be slightly covered in some sort-of spiritual soot. He waved his arms up and a wall of fire suddenly appeared between him and the three onlookers.

The three intruders screamed and scrambled back up the stairs running as far away as possible.

"EVERYBODY RUN!" Mike screamed at the top of his lungs, "THERE'S A FIRE!"

Everyone screamed and darted in a different direction as fast as they could.

When Mike, Vincent, and Eden were far enough away, they all quickly took a second to catch their breath.

"Vincent…" Mike wheezed, "I hope…I hope this was worth it."

"It was." Vincent smiled, showing Eden and Mike his phone screen, "Because I had this going on Facebook live. Gentleman and lady, we might have the biggest discovery on our hands now!"

….

 _ **New Jersey, The Next Day…**_

Principal Rothman was not at all amused. He had finished playing back the video from yesterday and much to Mike's horror, the Video did not contain neither the ghost or the wall of fire that had appeared, thus making Vincent's 'discovery' look like an episode of some cheesy paranormal show.

"Mr. Gerald." Principal Rothman stated, "Can you tell me what this is?"

"It's a video, sir." Mike said, trying to play innocent.

"A video where you play pretend and cause a false alarm for a fire." The Principal stated, "This school does not accept teachers who willingly create paranoia amongst students. You are hereby fired and ordered to vacate the premises imminently."

Mike nodded, understandingly, but that didn't make him feel any less crappy.

….

 _ **Later, New York…**_

After he'd cleared out his belongings and turned in his Teacher ID, Mike decided to go see Vincent and confront him about the video. When he got to Vincent's listed apartment which he'd read about on Vincent's Facebook profile, he could hear Vincent from behind the door sobbing to himself audibly.

"Vincent?" Mike asked cautiously.

"Go away." Vincent sobbed, "I don't have the rent money."

There was a crashing noise and Mike suddenly had an idea about what was going on.

"Vincent, open up now!" Mike ordered.

"I'll open another bottle of beer then." Vincent chuckled, "Here's to you, Mike! You were right! I was just a dumb idiot trying to play Fox Mulder."

"Vincent, I saw the same thing you did and that doesn't change anything." Mike admitted.

There was a pause, but Vincent didn't answer. Tough he didn't appear to be drunkenly moving around at the very least. Mike sighed and took out a notebook and a pen quickly writing something down.

"Look…" He said, "I'll let you talk to me if you want to. Just call the number here."

He tore the page off and slipped it underneath the door. With that, Mike walked out of the apartment complex. As he exited, he was suddenly met by Eden who was holding a box filled with various belongings. She looked at him equally surprised.

"Mike!" She declared, "What…what are you doing here?"

"Well, I got fired from my job." Mike admitted, "I thought I'd talk to Vincent about what's going on, but he's apparently drunk by this point."

"Oh." She said, disappointed, "Well, I was just expelled for the university. Apparently, nobody saw the…figure…or whatever."

"But it was there." Mike pointed out, "We saw that figure. The flames he created were so real. You could feel the heat too, couldn't you?"

Eden nodded.

"Sorry about making you lose your job." Eden apologized.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Mike assured, "If anything, I'm sorry that your involvement got you expelled from college."

"Thanks." Eden replied.

"Look…" Mike explained, taking out his notebook and pen and writing his contact information down, "If you need any help, feel free to contact me here."

He handed her the paper which she took and pocketed away.

"Thanks." She smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."

Suddenly, there was a loud car horn that startled them both. The two looked in front of them to see a green station wagon parked next to the sidewalk.

"Great." She groaned, taking her box with her, "It's my Mom."

She turned back on last time to look at him.

"See you around, Mike." She smiled softly.

With that, she put her stuff in the back seat of the car and then got in the passenger seat. For a brief second, Mike could get a brief glimpse of the driver. It appeared to be a woman with short dark red hair and laugh lines, but he got no further look at her as Eden closed the door and the car sped off at incredible speed as if the devil was chasing it. Again, Mike felt that he knew the driver (who he assumed was Eden's Mom,) was someone important.

….

 _ **Later, Queens…**_

The drive back to her Mother's house had been deathly quiet the whole way through. Eden dared not look at her Mom. Once inside her Mother's quaint little house, Eden spent the next few hours getting chewed out by her Mom. Her Mom was often overprotective of Eden, but today she seemed more pissed off than anything else.

"Why didn't you call the cops then?!" She demanded.

"What was I to tell them?!" Eden questioned, "Stuff like this doesn't happen every day, Mom!"

"Exactly the point, Eden!" Her mother pointed out, "People see these things when they're either crazy or have been doing drugs!"

"I can understand being upset that I got expelled from college," Eden pointed out, "But why the hell should this thing matter to you so much?! What is so important about what happened down there that it takes priority over me getting kicked out of the university?!"

Eden's Mom looked so upset. It looked like she was going to explode into a supernova at any minute. Instead, she grabbed her purse and began heading to the door.

"Where the hell are you going now?!" Eden asked.

"OUT." Her mother stated, "I need to get some fresh air before I can speak with you. And when I get back, Eden, we are going to continue this conversation of ours!"

Her mother left, making sure to slam the front door on her way out. Eden groaned in expatriation and headed straight for the basement. Turning the lights on, she began to search through the piles upon piles of boxes stored away.

"There's gotta be something in here I can sell." She told herself, "Something to help me get my ticket out of this life."

As she continued to move the boxes, she came across one which seemed to get her attention. The box was marked as 'DO NOT OPEN! HANDLE WITH CARE' in black permanent ink. Slowly, Eden took it down and opened the box. Inside were an assortment of things which didn't look expensive at all, but seemed rather out of place at her mother's house.

Slowly, Eden picked up the first item which was a file folder. Opening it up she found a series of newspaper clippings inside. The first was dated from the early 80's. The lead article read 'Controversial "Professional Paranormal Eliminators" Put Spin on Science and the Supernatural.' The main photo featured three men dressed in some kind of uniforms standing outside The Sedgewick Hotel in New York. There was a man with thinning hair smirking at the viewer, a somewhat-chubby guy with black hair holding a small box that was smoking…then there was the third man. He appeared older than the other two with slicked-back black hair and glasses not unlike Eden's.

As she continued through the articles, she learned that these men were collectively known as the Ghostbusters. The articles showed how they captured spirits from the early 80's up until the mid-90's supposedly saving the world three times over. Unfortunately, by the times the articles reached the mid-90's, the story took a bad turn when an excerpt spoke about how the ghosts seemed to disappear altogether. Not long after, The Ghostbusters themselves shut down operations permanently, which is where the article ended.

When she was finished, Eden put the articles back in the folder and then took out the next item which shocked her just as much. It was one of the jumpsuits that the Ghostbusters used. Inspecting it closely, she saw the nametag read 'SPENGLER' in red letters.

She took a moment to let this idea that her Mom had the stuff in the basement sink in before she pulled out the last item which was a framed photo. When she looked at it she nearly had a heart attack. There was the man who wore the 'SPENLGER' uniform standing beside her mother. The man's hair had gone white by this point and he seemed to have put on a couple of extra pounds, but she still recognized him nonetheless. However, the thing that shocked her more than anything was the fact that cradled in the man's arms was a young baby girl.

….

 _ **Later…**_

Ms. Donai returned a couple hours later with a clearer mind. She felt bad about the heated argument, but she couldn't afford to let her daughter get close to these kinds of phenomena's. Ms. Donai didn't know if her heart could take it, should her daughter end up at the epicenter of said events.

"Eden!" She called, "I'm back. Listen, I'm ready to talk calmly if you're ready to."

Suddenly, the reading light in the living room turned on. Ms. Donai looked to find her daughter there and gasped. Planted next to the chair her daughter was sitting in was the box she hoped her daughter would never discover. Furthermore, Eden was holding the photo in her hands that reminded Ms. Donai of simpler times.

"Where did you get that?" Ms. Donai questioned horrified.

"You tell me first, Mom." Eden replied, "How do you know the man here?"

Eden's Mom sighed. She dreaded what might happen if her daughter ever discovered this secret. Now the day was finally here. Nonetheless, her Mother promised herself she'd defend herself as best she could and now she'd get to see if she could help her daughter understand why she'd spent these last years of her life in secrecy.

"The man in that photo is Egon Spenlger." Ms. Donai answered, "He was your father…and for a time he was my husband."

"Your husband?!" Eden questioned.

Her mother nodded.

"There's more to confess, Eden." Eden's mother admitted, "Our real last name isn't Donai. It's Melnitz."

Eden looked at her mother shocked.

"You might want to sit down for this one, sweetie." Her mother assured her.

 _ **To be continued…**_

…

 **So there we go, everyone. The first chapter is done. Hope I did a good job and that you've enjoyed it so far. If not, feel free to leave constructive criticism about how I can improve it and what you might like to see in the future. I'm going to get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can. Next time, Eden learns more of her Mother's secret past and we'll be introduced to another member of the new team as well as the main villains. Hope you enjoyed this Halloween opener. As always, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for Fan-Purposes ONLY, so please don't sue!**


	2. Restorations

**Hi, everyone. Hope everybody had a great Halloween. Fair warning, because I knew this was going to come up, but this chapter will deal with things that while not making it a 'Mature Rated' chapter, will be difficult for some to read if they are very sensitive about where this opening part begins. Nonetheless, this is the kind of topic that I felt should also have been explored in a Ghostbusters remake especially if they were to transplant the story in the modern day and age. Hope you enjoy nonetheless. Again, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes only so PLEASE don't sue!**

 _ **Manhattan…**_

Like many people who lived in this city, Henry Tyler was someone who lost family and friends on 9/11. He could still remember that day clearly. His father had dropped him off at school only for the teachers to gather the students not long afterwards and declare that they would have the rest of the day off. Shortly afterwards, everybody's parents came to pick them up save for Henry's. He waited a half-hour before his Mother arrived and the two began to run home. As soon as they stepped outside, Henry could see the smoke clouds forming from the Trade Centers. His mother wouldn't answer what was going on until they reached home and turned on the TV. Henry's father was a cop and Henry was waiting to hopefully see his Dad make it out as his mother frantically called as many people as she could to figure out what was going on.

His hopes that his family would be reunited were dashed when the towers finally fell. When the list of who was still in the building when it collapsed came in, Henry's father was listed among the dead.

Nonetheless, this helped guide Henry who went on to become a cop for the last three years of his life. He was a rookie, yes, but if his Dad could see him now…well…Henry would like to think that his father would be proud.

As he patrolled the area of the September 11th Memorial and Museum, a strange man in a black trench coat and black fedora bumped into him.

"Oh," Henry realized, "Sorry, sir."

The man kept on walking away quickly.

 _You could be a little nicer, you know._ Henry thought to himself, _God knows we don't get enough of that nowadays._

Suddenly, he heard something. It sounded like a small silent alarm. Curious, Henry followed the noise until he reached one of the trees that had been planted. Looking down, Henry noticed that there was something pulsing with a blue light from within the soil.

"What the hell?" Henry asked.

He kneeled down to get a better look but suddenly found himself grabbed by a strange mist.

Henry yelped, realizing that due to the time at night that it was, nobody was going to help him out. Instead, he quickly pulled away as fast as he could, and ended up falling on his backside. Henry watched as multiple transparent blue hands reached out from the soil. He'd never seen anything like this before and it was scaring him half-to-death.

Making a quick decision, Henry ran as fast as he could away from the area.

….

 _ **Meanwhile, Across Town…**_

At this point, the man had returned home to his apartment. He took off his fedora and coat revealing a man in a light-blue business suit and pants with black oxfords. He was extremely well-built despite having short white hair and steeled blue-eyes, which clashed greatly with his choice of clothes.

Likewise, his apartment only clashed further to confuse someone of what kind of person he was. While it had the basic necessities for someone to live in such as a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room, the walls had images of various Chinese symbols pinned around. Books also littered some of the tables with sections talking about Chinese rituals of communicating with a higher power. The man quickly removed his clothes, stripping down to boxers. He went to the kitchen and started grinding various spices together. He heated the concoction in the microwave for a few second before taking it out and allowing himself to inhale said spices with sitting down.

The second he did so, he found himself no longer in his apartment, but instead in an area where colors from every spectrum there was constantly changed around him. He looked forward. There was an extremely golden radiant mist floating before him.

"Dwight Francis." The mist responded in Chinese, "What has happened that it requires us to communicate upon this plane?"

"It's the device you helped teach me to build." Dwight responded in Chinese, "It is beginning to fade. The spirits are about to be set free once more."

"We are nearly ready for the plan which we have both prepared so long for." The figure responded, "Why should this be a problem now?"

"You explained that the machine would hold the spirits until we had succeeded." Dwight explained.

"No." The figure corrected, "I told you that it would be long enough for our plan to succeed. If the generator has begun to fail, it matters not. It has been far too long since the people of this city you live in have witnessed beings like myself. They will dismiss this idea as they tried to bury me until it is too late. Have the preperations been made?"

"It is all ready, master." Dwight assured, "We start production today."

"Excellent." The figure stated, "Soon, we will unleash our armies onto your world. Then, you will have what you have always coveted."

Dwight smiled.

"Peace in our time." He said softly.

"Go." The mist commanded, "Do not contact me again unless it is of serious concern."

With that, Dwight woke back up in his apartment making sure to take a few deep breaths as he did so.

….

 _ **The Past, Brooklyn…**_

" _Egon!" Janine called in a singing voice as she entered their home, "I'm back!"_

 _Janine felt happy for the first time in many years. It was sad to see the Ghostbusters shut down, but at the same time, the event had finally brought her and Egon together and they'd tied the knot a couple of years prior. Soon afterwards, Janine had their first daughter whom they both named Eden after the miracle that had created such a perfect world for them._

 _As Janine closed the door behind her, she put the groceries she'd picked up on a countertop._

" _Egon?" She asked._

 _There was no response._

" _Honey, are you all right?" She said, getting a bit more concerned._

 _Curious, she slowly walked up the stairs. Entering Eden's bedroom, Janine let out a shriek._

 _Egon was lying on the floor unconscious. Eden was tucked in and sleeping (thankfully not awakened by Janine's scream.)_

" _EGON!" Janine cried, turning him over._

 _He wasn't breathing at all. Janine quickly called 9-1-1, informing them about what happned. She continued to try and preform CPR on Egon until the paramedics arrived. Janine went with them all the way to the hospital until she was told to wait outside. An eternity seemed to pass as she waited until one of the paramedics emerged._

" _Ms. Spengler?" He asked, concerned._

" _Yes." Janine asked._

 _The man looked down. Janine's eyes widened with horror feeling fear she hadn't felt since she watched Egon go off to face Gozer for the first time._

" _No…" She whispered._

 _She attempted to push past him, but was restrained by more paramedics._

" _NO!" She cried, "EGON!"_

 _She buried her head in their arms looking up briefly to catch one last glimpse of Egon's face before a doctor covered it up with a white sheet._

….

 _ **Queens, Now…**_

"Your father died from heart complications." Janine concluded, "Afterwards I decided that I didn't want to be known as the Widow of Egon Spengler, so I changed our last name and moved here to Queens, hoping to get away from the trouble. But I guess my hopes that we'd live a normal life free from my past…didn't exactly go as planned."

She looked up at her daughter who was listening intently. There was a brief pause and then Eden did something that surprised Janine.

She chuckled.

"All this time." Eden explained, "I thought Dad left us because he wanted a son, or he thought I was weird. But it turns out my father was one of the greatest scientists who ever lived."

Janine put a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Sweetie, your father loved you just as much as I did." Janine assured.

"Mom…" Eden stated with a hopeful smile, "Today I thought my life was over. But now I can see my future so clearly right in front of me."

Eden looked over at her late father's uniform. Janine looked as well and gasped at what her daughter was implying.

"Absolutely not!" Janine declared.

"Mom…" Eden began.

"Honey, the Ghostbusters did a lot of good for the world." Janine assured, "They saved the whole gosh-darn planet! But if something were to happen to you…" Janine could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes, "I…I don't know if my heart could take that kind of loss again."

"I'm going to do this, Mom." Eden assured, "With or without your help. I love you, but…"

"But what?" Janine asked.

"This is just something I have to do. Not just for me. But for him as well."

Janine closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She shook her head reluctantly.

"I'm going to regret this." She muttered to herself, "Alright."

"Alright, what?" Eden asked.

"You can go restart the franchise if you want." Janine explained, "But if you're going to do this, I need to get some other people in to make sure you know what you're doing."

Janine went over to a nearby desktop computer as her daughter followed.

"It's been years since I spoke with any other member of the team besides your father." Janine explained, "But there's no reason why I couldn't track them down through social media."

She looked at her daughter seriously.

"If you're serious about starting the Ghostbusters back up, I should be able to arrange for some additional staff help to get you some equipment. But they're all too old to go chasing ghosts themselves, so you're going to need a few more people on-hand who are young and willing to entertain the idea of ghosts existing.

Eden thought for a minute and then remembered something. Or rather what someone had said to her earlier that day.

….

 _ **Manhattan, The Next Day…**_

Henry sat in his chair as the Chief of Police looked at him quizzically.

"You really expect me to believe that after the crap that went down on the news recently?" The Chief of Police asked.

"Sir…" Henry tried to reason.

"Shut up!" The Chief of Police demanded, "Now it's very clear to me that you aren't mentally stable to wear that uniform."

He gave a motion with his hand.

"Turn in your badge, Tyler. You're relieved of your duty."

Henry begrudgingly did so, turning over everything that made him a cop until he had only his uniform left.

"Now get the hell out of my office." The Chief declared.

Henry did so, but as he left, he was determined to get answers about what he saw. One way or another.

…

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Thankfully, not only had Mike shown up where Eden had asked to meet her, but he'd succeeded in getting Vincent Alexander out of his apartment. Vincent currently sported a small beard, but at least he didn't smell bad. The three were currently meeting at a coffee shop which allowed Vincent to down a couple coffees to keep him awake and focused.

"Thank you both for coming to see me." Eden acknowledged.

"Your welcome." Mike said, "So what was so important that you had to talk to both of us?"

"I think I have a way that can make us rich and put the bad stuff that's recently happened behind us." Eden said, "But I need to know if the both of you trust me."

"You can for me so long as it's important like you said it was." Mike told her.

He looked over at Vincent who was trying desperately to stay awake. Mike nudged his foot as Vincent suddenly remembered what was going on.

"What? Oh, yes. Sure. You have my trust, Eden." Vincent said, trying to save-face.

Eden sighed.

"My Dad was Egon Spengler." Eden stated.

Vincent was in the middle of sipping his coffee when she spoke. As soon as those words left her mouth, he spit out his drink in shock.

"WHAT?!" He demanded.

"Wait, who's Egon Spengler?!" Mike asked.

"Egon Spengler!" Vincent explained, "The guy who helped found the Ghostbusters?! One of the leading followers in studying the paranormal and combating it?! The one who I based my entire research on?!" He looked at Eden amazed, "You're his daughter?!"

"I just found this out last night." Eden assured, "I swear to god, until last night I didn't know who my father was at all."

Mike suddenly remembered Vincent showing him an article from the 80's about a group of Ghost hunters and realized where he'd seen Eden's Mom before. In said article, there was a woman who appeared to be a younger version of the one that picked Eden up hugging an older man with glasses.

"So wait," Mike realized, "Then your Dad was the one who blew up a giant marshmallow man and splattered marshmallow gunk across an entire city block in the early 80's?! That guy?!"

"Yeah." Eden said, "I guess it makes sense. I've always been quite talented when it comes to reverse-engineering and particle physics."

"Wait, so what does this have to do with us?" Mike asked.

"Well, my Mom agreed to help me start the Ghostbusters back up." Eden explained, "Maybe even figure out why ghosts went missing for so long. But we need more recruits and seeing as how you two are the only other ones who saw what happened at the studio, I thought I'd give you both the opportunity to help out."

"Can I speak to you for a second in private?" Mike asked getting up.

Eden nodded and the two went outside.

"I'm sorry." Mike apologized, "I really am. But I can't work on a paranormal team with Vincent on it."

"Why not?" Eden asked.

"I just can't!" Mike assured.

"Mike, just tell me what's troubling you and maybe I can help figure it out!" Eden assured.

Mike groaned.

"When we were kids." He explained, "Vincent claimed he saw a ghost haunting the school. He convinced me to sneak out of home in the middle of the night and to break into the school to discover what was going on. When we got inside, there was some kind of green mist forming, but Vincent chickened out and accidently tripped the security systems. He left me alone and by the time the police came, the ghost was gone."

He sighed, looking down at the ground.

"I spent hours being questioned before I was allowed to go home." He continued, "Afterwards, Vincent left and I never spoke to him until yesterday after that incident. I'm still angry at him for what happened and I don't think I'd be much help if I had to constantly babysit him making sure he could hold his own."

Eden nodded.

"You know what I saw in Vincent yesterday when we saw that spirit?" She asked him.

Mike shook his head.

"I didn't see someone who wasn't completely afraid until the spirit attacked him." She pointed out, "Mike, just give it one more chance. I mean, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But we need two people to fire the packs and at least one to operate the trap. Plus, you've been a gym teacher meaning you could bring a lot of physical prowess that the team requires."

She sighed.

"Look." She pointed out, "You gave me your number because you wanted to help me. This is me asking for that help as politely as I can. Please?"

Mike looked at her.

"Alright." He said, "I'll do it. It's not like there's a lot of jobs going around nowadays anyways."

"Thank you, Mike." Eden smiled.

The two walked back into the coffee shop and sat down with Vincent.

"Alright, I'm in." Mike explained, "What about you, Vincent?"

"Definitely." Vincent declared, holding up his coffee cup, "Here's to us. The two friends reunited for a common cause, and the scientist who's going to put 'natural' back in 'supernatural.'"

"Just one thing." Mike pointed out, "How are we going to start the franchise back up, exactly?"

"Well." Eden explained, "My Mother said she was going to try and track down some help. She told me to expect a call any second now…"

Suddenly, Eden felt her cell phone ring. She found it was an unknown number but answered anyway.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Eden Spengler?" A voice unfamiliar to her questioned.

"Yes." Eden answered cautiously, "Who's this?"

"Your mother contacted me." The voice explained, "I have the tools you need to start Ghostbusters back up again. Meet me at 110 North Moore Street as soon as possible. I'll have the equipment ready and waiting for you."

With that, the person hung up.

"Who was that?" Vincent asked.

"Looks like Mom pulled through." Eden explained, "He said to meet us at 110 North Moore Street as soon as possible."

"Well." Mike said, calling for the check, "Let's pay and meet our new benefactors."

…...

 _ **Later…**_

The three were awestruck when they saw the address. It was a firehouse which looked as though it had been abandoned for years with cardboard boxes covering various windows in the upstairs area. However, someone had left a ladder nearby and had pinned a banner reading 'GHOSTBUSTERS' above the firehouse doors. They also noted that a large moving van was nearby as well.

"Is this where our base is going to be?!" Vincent asked giddy with anticipation, "Did someone read my Christmas list early?!"

"Let's find out." Eden suggested.

The three went up to the firehouse entrance and knocked on the doors. They heard some feet moving down until someone answered.

When the door opened, the three stood there in their own reaction to who stepped outside. The person who answered was an older man in his 60's. He was a bit on the chunky side, but had black solid hair and a cheerful face. He seemed much older than Eden had seen in the articles her mother had kept, but she knew that there was no doubt this was Dr. Raymond Stanz, the so-called 'Heart' of the Ghostbusters.

Mike kept his face normal, but still acted as if he were applying for a new job. However, Vincent was overjoyed beyond belief (mainly because he knew more about the legend of the Ghostbusters than the other two) to the point where it seemed he might explode at any second.

Ray looked at Eden amazed. He felt memories flooding back of Janine and Egon as he noticed some of the many features this woman had inherited from her parents.

"Hello." He greeted warmly, "You must be Eden. I'm Ray Stanz…"

 _THUD._

Ray, Mike, and Eden looked back to see Vincent had fainted with a big grin on his face.

"Sorry." Eden apologized, "He's just very happy to be able to work with the Ghostbusters."

"It's quite all right." Ray assured, holding the door open, "Why don't you bring him inside? Winston should be joining us soon as well."

Eden and Mike nodded as they took their friend inside the firehouse.

….

 _ **Later…**_

It turns out the inside was actually better than the outside. Ray explained that he'd still been living in New York running an occult bookstore which he'd started when the Ghostbusters had dried up originally in 1988 before their fight with Vigo the Carpathian put them back on the map. As soon as Janine had told him what her daughter was planning, Ray instantly went back and had begun to clean up the place a little. There was some dust and cobwebs that needed to be swept away, but the Firehouse was still fully-functional even after all these years.

Ray had even gone as far as to recover some of their old equipment as well as unfinished equipment that the late Egon Spengler had not been able to finish before his untimely passing. Ray had kept these devices personally because he didn't want the government getting their hands on such devices in fear of what they might try to do with such technology.

After Vincent recovered and introductions were made, Ray began going over the equipment functions and how they were used to capture ghosts. It was all straightforward and came almost naturally to Eden. Once finished, they sat around for another half hour swapping stories about how they came to where they were now. As Mike was in the middle of telling a story about how he got a date, they heard a knock at the door.

"That should be Zeddmore." Ray pointed out, "I'll get it."

He stepped outside as the three heard Ray conversing with a deep-sounding voice. However, Eden suddenly heard another voice calling her.

 _Eden…Eden…_

Eden stood up confused. As the voice continued beckoning her, she followed the noise down into the basement where Ray had shown the Ecto Containment Unit (which thankfully was still operational as the Containment Unit had a battery power that lasted up to five thousand years, provided that nothing outside shut down the unit).

Meanwhile, Ray opened the garage doors as Mike and Vincent gasped. There, backing up into the garage, was the original Ecto-1. It seemed a bit weathered in places, but was still moving fluidly as any other car nowadays. The car parked and out stepped an African American man in his 60's. He had greying black hair and a grey moustache, but seemed more in shape than Ray was.

"Guys," Ray introduced, "This is Winston Zeddmore. Our first recruit after we opened up and now apparently a man with a law degree."

"Hey," Winston noted, "If Louis Tully could get one, so could I."

He chuckled and shook both of the new recruits hands.

"It's nice to meet you two." He noted.

"The honor's all ours, Mr. Zeddmore." Vincent assured.

"Yeah." Mike agreed, "I mean, I read about you guys years ago, but nothing ever turned up so I assumed all that stuff with ghosts had been a hoax."

"I used to think the same thing when I first joined." Winston noted, "But seeing spirits escape your containment unit, two people turning into dogs, a god who can turn into a goddess and then a giant marshmallow man really helped prove me wrong."

"Waitasec." Ray pointed out, "Where's Eden?"

Downstairs, Eden had followed the voice over to a worktable in the basement which had some drawers' underneath. Opening it up, she found one item which she pulled out looking upon it confused. It seemed like some sort-of grounded satellite, but had wirings and tubes attached to the dish portion, but they weren't attached to any sort of source. Upon inspecting the device closer though, Eden could start to see where certain points could be connected to but not what it could be used for.

"Eden?"

Eden turned around to see Dr. Stanz and Mr. Zeedmore (who she remembered reading about in the articles her mother kept around,) standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Sorry." She apologized, "I just…thought I'd take a look down here."

"Well, no harm as long as the containment unit isn't shut off." Ray pointed out, "I guess we'd better make out with the last of the introductions. This is Winston Zeedmore. Winston, this is Eden; Egon and Janine's Daughter."

Winston shook her hand firmly as he also noticed the many similarities between Eden and her parents.

"Still can't get over the fact that Egon became a Dad." Winston noted, before eying the thing she'd pulled out behind her, "So what's this that you were looking at then?" He questioned.

"I don't know." Eden admitted, "I was hoping either one of you could tell me."

"I remember this." Ray explained, "Egon was still trying to complete this by the time I'd left. I guess he never finished it."

He picked up the device and showed it to the two.

"Egon had this idea that the reason we were seeing less and less of ghosts following 1991 was because something had happened in the Ectosphere." Ray continued.

"The Ectosphere?" Eden questioned.

"The thin layer that occasionally allows for cross-dimension portals and/or spirits to flow into our universe." Ray explained, "Egon theorized that perhaps something had tempered with the natural order of things and tried building this to see what could be learned. I left before he…well…"

"Before he died." Eden finished.

"Right." Ray nodded, "I guess he never managed to finish this thing and just left it here."

"I guess it turns out that in the end he found your mother to be important enough to spend the rest of his life with." Winston noted.

Eden nodded taking small comfort in what was said, but then looked at Ray.

"Dr. Stanz." Eden explained, "I think since Me, Vincent, and Mike have been the first to witness a ghost since the 90's, we should try to finish the device. That way we might even be able to find more ghosts again. Maybe even get a better idea at what exactly it was that happened."

"You sure you're up for it?" Ray questioned.

Eden smiled.

"I've scored the highest tests in engineering and physics in my college." She pointed out, "I think I can manage with a couple of the other unfinished prototype stuff you have lying around."

Ray smiled. Eden might have had that straightforward attitude which her Mother had displayed in the time she worked for the company, but it was very clear that her father's intellect had passed down to her as well.

"Alright, then." Ray noted, "See what you can find. In the meantime, the rest of us can get to work finishing our restoration of the firehouse."

….

 _ **Later…**_

Henry Tyler was sat down on a park bench in Tribeca. He often came by here when he wanted to think or be alone. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do next. On one hand, he was sure what he saw was real and felt that he needed to go back and check it out when no one was around later that night. He knew the patrol times around the area where he'd encountered whatever it was which had attacked him, so it'd be easy to get in. The problem was that he still wasn't sure what exactly it was that he was dealing with quite just yet or how he was going to take care of it.

Sighing as he'd hit another dead-end rethinking the plan to go back and investigate for what was seemingly the twelfth time, Henry got up and left the park. As he approached a nearby subway, he paused noticing a nearby firehouse which'd been out of commission for years. This was somewhat confusing because the lights appeared to be on inside. Stepping back up and getting a better look from the front of the house, he noticed a large banner over the firehouse doors which read 'GHOSTBUSTERS.' Looking at the side door, Henry noticed a sheet of paper which'd been taped on reading 'NO PROBLEM IS TOO GREAT! WE'RE READY TO BELIEVE YOU!'

Curious, Henry approached the door.

Inside the Firehouse, the combined forces of the new and old generation of Ghostbusters (minus Eden who was still downstairs), stood proudly. They'd re-cleaned every little bit of the firehouse and re-stocked all the equipment where it'd been placed so-long ago.

"Well," Ray declared, "It looks like we're almost ready to get back in the swing of things."

"We're going to need some more interior furnishing." Winston pointed out, "But as I once said years ago; we have the tools. We have the talent."

"Now all we need is a client." Vincent pointed out.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Nobody else was coming, right?" Mike asked.

"No." Ray pointed out, "Venkman's living in LA with his wife, Dana and his adoptive son, Oscar. He's got commitments to a family life now. Janine tried reaching out to an associate who worked with us in '91, but we haven't heard anything back."

Mike went up to the door and opened revealing a young African American man probably a few years older than Eden was standing there.

"Hi." He greeted, "Are you guys the Ghostbusters?"

"Yeah." Mike answered, "Why?"

"Look, what I'm going to say may sounds crazy…"

"Sir," Mike assured, "Yesterday and today I've seen all sorts of things that would drive anybody else crazy. The sign says we'll believe you. We mean that."

The man nodded.

"Okay." He said, "Why don't I come in and tell you."

Downstairs, Eden had connected the last piece she needed. She'd attached the dish-like device to a spare portable containment unit, fusing it into the power source. She'd attached the red-thin wiring to an ethernet port and had fitted that into a prototype PKE Meter which had a monitor that was more box-like rather than the standard 'shoe-shiner' design the PKE Meters had with the two antennas on the top rather than on the side. The other various wires had been inserted in different places around the portable containment unit, outfitted with various ports and input-output sections cobbled together from the rest of the unfinished prototype gear that Ray had brought with him.

She adjusted some knobs on the PKE monitor as a map of New York appeared on there. As she continued adjusting, she saw various blue blips showing up across the map which made her eyes widen.

Upstairs, Henry Tyler was finishing recounting his story to the Ghostbusters who all stayed quiet as he finished the last thing which had happened to him.

They all sat in silence before Ray spoke.

"Well," He suggested, "I guess it makes sense that if ghosts were to start returning, they'd begin manifesting at an area of significance where thousands of lives were lost."

"One thing I don't understand though." Mike noted, "Again, if the ghosts did disappear, why would they show up now and in two separate locations if only briefly?"

"Because someone's been pulling the strings." Eden called.

Everyone turned to the basement steps to see Eden standing there.

"Hi." She greeted, "Eden Spengler. Lead scientist. What's going on now?"

"This is Henry Tyler." Winston introduced, "He claims that a bunch of ghostly hands attacked him at the World Trade Center memorial."

"Then this matches up with what I've been discovered." Eden noted, "If you'll follow me downstairs, I'll be happy to explain."

Everyone got up and followed her down into the basement. Once they were all gathered around the table that Eden had been using to finish her father's invention, she continued.

"My father originally built this because he felt that there was a reason the ghosts were disappearing." She explained, "Dr. Stanz told me that Egon believed the reason that the ghosts disappeared from New York was due to a change in the Ectosphere, which for those who don't know is the way ghosts and other supernatural entities usually cross over into our world."

She showed them her device and the blinking dots on the map of New York.

"These dots represent some sort-of artificial change in the Ectosphere. Someone somehow found a way to seal the barriers, thus trapping the ghosts in there."

"So why are they blinking?" Mike asked.

"Because the power's starting to fade." Eden answered, "Whatever's been keeping the ghosts back has slowly begun to loose power."

"Of course!" Vincent realized, slapping his forehead, "That's why the ghost of Shane Rocksberg didn't just chase us and stayed where it was! It's still tethered there technically."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Mike asked, "Do we really want to let the ghosts back into our reality?"

"Man's got a strong point." Winston added, "Do we allow them to come back and go through the effort of catching them again?"

"Whatever's happened," Ray pointed out, "The ghosts still have a natural right to cross back if they want to. If they show malevolence, we simply catch them again."

"Right." Mike noted, "Now I'm all for that, but because I don't want to release Shane Rocksberg's ghost and whatever else might be waiting with him, I say we check out the Trade Center first."

"Then we'll have to do it late at night." Henry pointed out.

All eyes fell on him.

"I'm sorry, 'we?'" Mike asked.

"I might not be a cop anymore." Henry pointed out, "But I still have a duty to protect people. Plus, if you're going to investigate, you're going to need to know when the cops patrol that area so that when you investigate, you don't get caught. Also I'm kind of in need of a job."

Mike, Eden, and Vincent looked at the senior Ghostbusters who simply nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Mike noted, "We'll take you onboard, Mr. Tyler."

…

 _ **Later, The September 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **Memorial and Museum…**_

Late that night, the four new Ghostbusters crept quickly towards the spot Henry had seen the reported disturbance at, carrying their equipment. Ray and Winston were a couple blocks away in the moving van (Ray had borrowed it from a friend of his,) and they would be monitoring the situation from where they were thanks to some Go-Pro Cameras they'd stuck on the new crew.

"Okay." Henry noted, pointing to the area where the events had gone down, "It's right over there."

The Ghostbusters moved quickly. It was currently 12:30 AM, but the next shift would be here in 30 minutes. As they got in front of the spot, Vincent whipped out his PKE Meter and instantly scanned the area.

"Dr. Stantz, are you getting this?" He asked.

"Yup." Ray said through the walkie talkie, "Whatever's down there, it's definitely supernatural-powered."

"Why don't people ever use the supernatural to benefit the world?" Winston asked.

"If they did, Winston, the world would be a much happier place to live in." Ray mused, "But I digress. Dig up what you can and then report back here."

"Right." Mike nodded as the four got down and started quickly clawing away at the dirt.

After five minutes, Vincent felt something within his palm.

"Guys?" He asked, "I think I got it."

"Alright, Vince!" Mike congratulated, "Pull it up and let's leave ASAP."

Vincent pulled, but for some reason, whatever was in his palm was stuck. Tugging harder, Vincent slowly began to feel the object moving upward. He gave one last almighty tug and the item came free.

Only once it did, a large blue pulse began to spread all across Manhattan passing through every building until the entire city had been touched by the wave. Once which hadn't been seen in years.

….

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Dwight Francis was in a restaurant when the wave hit. He was confused at first, but then was shocked when he looked in front of him to see the strange mist from his vision seated across from his table.

 _Do not speak, Dwight Francis._ The Figure instructed, _Use your mind, rather than your lips._

 _What the hell was that?!_ Dwight asked through his thoughts.

 _Someone must have uncovered our plans._ The Figure responded, _Fortunately, I can foresee your city's so-called 'enforcers' on their way to apprehend those who caused the disturbance._

 _That means no more spirits to empower you then._ Dwight lamented.

 _Do not worry, Dwight Francis._ The Figure assured, _My energy has been replenished enough. We also have more than enough waiting for the moment we take action. This means that we must look to the next phase of our plan. Are the machines ready?_

 _We've tested out the platting. It's enough to hold the gateway that will bring us our victory._ Dwight replied.

 _Good._ The Figure acknowledged, _Perhaps those who caused this can offer us a demonstration to assure that what we have created will work in the end. Find out who did this and observe their trial. See if the substance we created will react as intended. When you have your answers, contact me._

With that, the figure disappeared leaving Dwight alone.

….

 _ **The September 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **Memorial and Museum…**_

"Mike?" Henry asked, "Did you feel that?"

"I could taste that." Mike noted.

Vincent was focused on the device in his hand. It looked like a small view-master slide, although it was a can rather than being flat. There were exposed wires leading out from the bottom (no doubt what Vincent had struggled to remove,) and was pulsing with a radiant color.

"Wow!" Ray declared over the radio, "Winston, remember the last time we saw that?!"

"Yep. Back in '91." Winston reclalled, "Guess we'd better hightail it then."

"Waitasec." Eden pointed out, indicating where Vincent had ripped the device from.

In the hole that had been left open was a puddle of slime. One which matched the color which was pulsing from the device Vincent had in his hand. Eden kneeled down and brought out a small Ziploc bag which she began to collect the substance from.

"Eden, I'm glad you're interested, but we need to get out now before the police arrive." Henry pointed out.

"Too late." A female voice called.

Henry cursed as the group turned around to find themselves in the presence of a male and female cop who had guns pointed at them.

"Get down on the ground." The female cop announced.

As they did so, they could hear Ray calling on the walkie talkie.

"Uh guys?" He asked, "Police are here. I don't think they're happy to see us."

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you can see, this is another example of using a human character as the main villain properly. The reason why Ivo Shandor worked as a human villain becoming a ghost was that he was psychologically deranged. He was an army doctor who thought society should never survive after the second world war, and that it was his duty to wipe the slate clean. We can tell Dwight is driven by that same kind of guiding force, but just how he intends to enforce world peace (not to mention the identity of his benefactor) will have to wait for a later chapter. But as we see, this benefactor has clearly shown him how to block the spirit world (which again will be revealed next time,) and that gives a good explanation as to how he knows to create these devices, making his skills more believable. Next time, the Ghostbusters go to trial again, and things become a real Kangaroo Court in more ways than they did last time the Ghostbusters were put on trial! Hope you enjoyed and will continue reading. As always, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes only so please don't sue!**


	3. A Case Reopened

**Hi, everyone! Here's another chapter of my version of continuing the original Ghostbusters. Don't have really a lot to say about this one. Hope you enjoy. As always, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes only, so please don't sue!**

 _ **New York Supreme Court Building…**_

Despite getting a degree in law and having been involved with a number of questionable activities over the years with the supernatural, Winston Zeedmore had never in his life been put on trial.

But here he was now, joining Ray and the new team as they continued to watch their chances of winning the trial drip down the drain. This was not helped by the fact that the judge was a man by the name of Salvador who stated that he was familiar with Ray and Winston but having lived in an age where the Ghostbusters were regarded as myth, made it very clear that he would not entertain the idea of ghosts or the existence of them. Winston actually wished the Mayor of New York wasn't off campaigning for governor.

Then again, the prosecutor wasn't much better. The guy was essentially a hybrid between Bobby Riggs and Karl Rove, and moreover was wiping the floor with their case. Despite their lawyer (who in this case wasn't Louis Tully, as he had decided not to work for the company anymore and Janine probably wouldn't like it if they reached out to him) putting up a good fight, it was pretty clear that they were going to jail.

"I'd like to call Mike Gerald to the stand." The Prosecutor stated.

Mike sighed and went up there.

"Mister Gerald." The Prosecutor stated, "It is my understanding that up until recently, you did not have any contact with Vincent Alexander."

"Well," Mike sighed sarcastically, "Word sure does get around fast."

The man nodded clearly not entertained by the joke.

"So I did some digging and as it turns out, you were briefly arrested for breaking and entering into your school on an account of a wild goose chase which landed you a couple of hours in jail. You seemed to deny any reason for entertaining Mister Vincent's actions, so why start now? Remember Mister Gerald, you're under oath not to entertain these ideas that have been regarded as tabloid news."

"Objection!" The Defense Lawyer called out.

"Overruled." The Judge replied.

Mike looked at Vincent seriously.

"When I helped Vincent," Mike said, "It was as a friend. When I came back to assist him, it was as a duty and service."

Vincent looked at Mike surprised.

"A service to what, Mister Gerald?" The Prosecutor asked, "Defiling an area nearby where a great disaster happened?"

"I would like to remind the court that recent disasters in the Earth have happened due to lack of scientific evidence, or because people had the evidence and simply didn't care about what it meant until it was too late. What we were doing was simply taking pre-emptive measures to avoid disasters on a scale which nobody has understood for years now."

"Is that what you believe?" The Prosecutor asked.

"Indeed." Mike said, "Because I know what I saw that night was real. I denied it when I was younger, and I'm beginning to regret my choice. Nothing can change that."

"No further questions." The Prosecutor stated.

The judge looked at Mike.

"Mister Gerald," The Judge stated, "That was the worst case for defending yourself that I've ever heard a witness give in my years involved in law!"

Mike rolled his eyes.

"Even if we were to entertain this silly idea that the equipment you have works," He waved his hand at the confiscated gear, "You're willingly trapping spirits?! Who are you and your friends to make such judgement?!"

"Well, since I'm under oath," Mike reminded, "I'll just say that these two guys," he pointed at Ray and Winston, "Made sure we had the know-how to tell good from bad. We went there because someone said they were being disturbed by something that they considered a threat to them. Based on what we saw firsthand, we can assume that whatever we found is a threat to the city. Then again, you would be the expert on separating good from evil. What with being a judge and all."

The judge slammed his gavel down.

"Try that again and you'll spend twenty days in contempt."

Suddenly, the radiant slime began glowing brighter. Eden picked up on this and nudged Vincent.

"Vincent." She whispered, "Look at the slime."

"Quiet!" The Judge roared as the slime pulsed again. This time Ray and Winston saw it as well as their eyes widened in horror.

"Uh, your honor?" Ray asked.

"I SAID QUIET!" The Judge yelled as the slime continued to shine brighter, "You will not speak unless you are asked to!"

"Yes, but…" Winston noted.

"YOU'RE ALL FRAUDS!" The Judge yelled, continuing to ignore the pleas and the radiant slime, "WASHED-OUT HAS-BEENS! YOU'RE IN MY COURT NOW! AND IF IT WERE UP TO ME, I WOULD PERSONALLY HAVE YOU TAKEN AND SHOT DEAD!"

With that, the container holding the slime broke and the slime became a small red portal. People screamed as a figure emerged from the portal. It was a purple-tinted transparent figure. It wore black robes and a barrister wig over its head. On that note, the upper head was a normal-looking human face, but the bottom resembled a skeleton mouth similar to that of Red Death from _Phantom of the Opera_. In the figure's right bony hand was a large mallet which everyone suddenly realized was an oversized gavel.

"OH MY GOD!" The human judge screamed, "JUDGE RAMIERIZ!"

Everyone began screaming and running every which way. The Ghostbusters hid underneath a table and watched as the ghostly judge threw his gavel at Salvador. He ducked and missed the gavel which embedded itself into the wall behind the chair. Judge Salvador crawled up next to the Ghostbusters looking terrified.

"So what's his story?" Ray asked, "Someone you tried?!"

"He was the judge before me!" Judge Salvador explained, "Ended up abducting a lot of children from people who worked here! I ended up taking over his position and sentenced him to injection death!"

Judge Ramirez looked beneath the desk at the collected group.

"You gotta help! Please!" Judge Salvador begged.

The Ghostbusters kept quiet, ignoring Salvador's pleas. They watched as the spirit of Judge Ramirez knocked his head back. Everyone dodged out of the way before Ramirez spat out a substance which instantly began to eat away at the table with a corrosive effect. Salvador grabbed Mike by his shirt collar and shook him wildly.

"PLEASE!" He begged, "YOU GOTTA HELP ME!"

"Sorry, can't do that." Mike explained with a smug grin, "You said we're under oath."

"That would mean that helping you would expose us as genuinely certified to handle problems like this." Henry added.

They watched as the ghost of Judge Ramirez picked up the Prosecutor and threw him to the opposite side of the room. The Prosecutor hit the opposite wall and fell to the ground unconscious. The human judge bit down on his tongue in anger.

"ALRIGHT!" He screamed, "I hereby find you six not guilty of any charges! Prosecution will pay the fine for your troubles! Case dismissed!"

He banged his gavel on the wall which accidently broke in two upon impact.

"JUST GET RID OF THAT THING!" Judge Salvador screamed.

….

 _ **Later…**_

Within a few minutes, both generations of Ghostbusters were suited up. Mike, Vincent, Eden, and Henry all wore a proton pack while Ray and Winston were wearing the Slime Blowers. Ray also had his PKE goggles on so he could scan what was here now for future data. The plan was simple. Ray and Winston would close the portal while the other four would keep their backs and take care of Judge Ramirez's spirit.

Before they stepped out, Mike took a serious look at Vincent.

"You're not gonna bail this time, are you pal?" He asked.

"No. Of course not." Vincent said, trying to sound convincing.

"Just remember what we went over." Eden reminded, "And remember; never cross the streams!"

"Alright." Ray nodded, "Let's do this."

With that, he and Winston stepped back into the courtroom first. They approached the portal which Ray took a quick scan of to be safe. With that, he and Winston began to neutralize the portal until it disappeared. Fortunately, the slime worked like a charm and the portal quickly vanished.

The other four stepped out, keeping a sharp eye open for any sign of Ramirez. Suddenly, they heard a banging sound coming from the back right of the witness box. Then closer to the front right of the box. Everything was deathly still for a few seconds.

Finally, the giant gavel shot up from in front of them.

"MOVE!" Mike screamed, as he knocked Vincent away.

Eden and Henry also dodged before the gavel came down missing the pair of them. The gavel began to shrink a little as Ramirez rose up from the ground.

"HEY, RAMIREZ!" Vincent called.

Ramirez turned to look at him as Vincent shot out a boson dart, hitting Ramirez in the face. Ramirez howled in pain as Vincent began to vent his pack. The spirit soared towards him, but Mike blasted a stream which captured Ramirez right by his face.

"WAY TO GO!" Ray congratulated, making another scan on Ramirez, "Now wear 'im down!"

"Can't you just slime the ghost and make him good?!" Mike asked.

"This isn't the same mood slime that we used to battle Vigo the Carpathain!" Ray pointed out, "Plus, the reading on the Ghost indicates that he can't simply be slimed and dispersed!"

"Fine!" Mike acknowledged.

He flung Ramirez up into the ceiling, accidently knocking down the lamp hanging from above which shattered greatly. Judge Salvador, who had been witnessing this thing from behind where his seat was, whimpered and slapped his head in disbelief.

"Ah, shit!" Mike cursed, "Sorry!"

He noticed Ramirez was still struggling, but then another stream latched on to Ramirez's right arm and sent him slamming into the right wall of the court. Looking to the side, he saw Vincent with a determined look on his face.

Before Ramirez could act any further, Eden shot another capture stream over Ramirez's left arm and sent him flying into the left side of the courtroom. Finally, Henry fired a capture stream on one of Ramirez's legs which was now exposed from the robes and slammed the spirit down to the ground. The new Ghostbusters nodded and gave an almighty heave slamming Ramirez back up hard into the ceiling and then down on the ground very hard.

"Way to go!" Ray yelled, "Now let's send this guy off into his new prison cell!"

With that, he rolled out a trap and opened it.

"SLAM HIM IN!" Winston declared.

The new Ghostbusters gave one last heave and slammed him directly into the trap dead-center. Ramirez screamed in protest, but it was all for naught as he was sucked in and the trap closed fully. The Ghostbusters looked in amazement. Eden inspected the trap and smiled.

"It still works." She says, "He's still ready to be transferred to the containment unit."

"Way to go, guys!" Winston noted.

Mike smiled at Vincent.

"Congrats on not bailing this time, Vincent." Mike noted.

"Well," Vincent said, "I guess when you have an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on your back, it comes in handy."

Mike grinned and the two hi-fived each other.

…

Outside the courtroom, people were flocked around the doors waiting to hear about what had happened. Finally, the twin doors opened revealing the two senior Ghostbusters as well as the newer members.

"It's okay!" Mike assured, as Henry held up the trap, "We got it! The Ghostbusters are back, and we're here to stay!"

The crowd started cheering as Ray couldn't help but smile seeing the city return to their side even after all these years of not seeing a ghost. Unbeknownst to them, nobody noticed the man in the leather jacket and trench coat walking away.

…

 _ **Later…**_

In the weeks that followed, the Ghostbusters had returned with a bang. Following the pulse that had covered Manhattan, ghosts and supernatural beings of all shapes and sizes were running afoul of the big apple once again. Nonetheless, the new Ghostbusters had stopped said disturbances at every turn.

The money that was coming back in for their services was quickly making a high profit where it got to the point that they could advertise on TV and even restore the old Firehouse sign. Eden even had enough funds to redesign the proton packs and make them more compatible. The new designs were a bit sleeker and had a triangular vent on the bottom rather than the circular one. In addition, the neutron wands were redesigned to have a more pistol-like appearance, making it easier to unhook and fire.

Other equipment included slime grenades, new meson collider packs, dark matter generator packs, and even a composite particle system pack. New traps were also created which allowed for quick capturing. This was thanks to a wider trap range which would mean the ghosts could not get far beyond a radius of the trap before being sucked in.

Finally, even the Ghostbusters Ectomobile got an upgrade. In addition to a new super-slammer trap, Eden had also installed a new 'Slime Cannon' which could fire blasts of slime strong enough to hold Ghosts for a good period of time. But more impressively, they had enough money to purchase a helicopter which Eden had outfitted with an Overload Pulse Composite Particle System wand for higher areas when needed. She had yet to install a trap for once ghosts were weakened, but Ray was more than optimistic that they'd find a way to make it work (personally, he was just happy that they were finally getting an aerial-based vehicle.)

All-in-all, things seemed to be going well for the Ghostbusters and everyone seemed to love them.

Well, almost everyone.

In his apartment, Dwight Francis sat in meditation, awaiting contact with his benefactor. As he entered the state of higher being once more, he saw the floating figure again.

"Dwight Francis." The Figure greeted, "Have you learned who is responsible for the interference of our plan?"

"I have, unfortunately." Dwight answered, "It appears this was the work of The Ghostbusters. Despite our best efforts, the organization has regrouped and were the ones responsible for the opening of the barrier we set-up near the World Trade Center."

"Then it is only a matter of time before they come for us." The figure noted, "Have you sent out the devices yet?"

"I have, my lord." Dwight assured, "We can begin the conquest as early as tomorrow. However, I might have a plan that will at least delay the Ghostbusters until your return. If you are willing to allow it, of course."

The figure was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"Proceed." He ordered.

"Okay." Dwight explained, "I will lure them out with a ghost. We will frame them for mishandling their equipment, and take them out of the equation before tomorrow when we put our plan into action."

The figure was silent again, almost as if it were weighing its options. Finally, after thirty seconds, the figure spoke.

"Very well." The figure answered, "You will enact this plan and tomorrow, we will rid ourselves of the Ghostbusters interference. Now go, and do not let our work be done in vain."

With that, Dwight returned to his waking state and began to put the first part of his plan into motion.

….

 _ **Meanwhile, At the Ghostbusters Firehouse…**_

Outside the firehouse, a young woman approached the door with a newspaper. She had shorty curly brown hair and brown eyes as she held a newspaper in her hand. She was dressed in a buttoned-down blue shirt with a brown overcoat and long black pants with black high heels.

Curiously, she opened the door looking around confused.

"Hello?" She asked, "Anyone here?"

"Right here!" A voice called, coming down to meet her.

She felt her heart almost jump out of her throat as Mr. Zeedmore approached her.

"Hi." He greeted, shaking her hand firmly, "I'm Mister Winston Zeedmore. And you are…?"

"Oh!" The woman realized, "Sorry. Uh… Edith Munroe, sir. I'm here about the secretary position?"

"Right." Winston smiled, "No need to be shy. Step back into the old office and we'll give you an interview."

She nodded as she handed Winston her resume. Winston took a brief glance over but picked up on a couple of interesting things. Apparently, Ms. Munroe had gone to high school and graduated with high ranks in soccer. Following that, she'd apparently trained for track in college and followed that up with a near-perfect career as a newspaper truck driver who nearly always got things done on-time.

"Alright, Ms. Munroe." Winston noted, "This is just a basic question we ask all new applicants. Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"

"Yes." Edith nodded without hesitation.

Winston looked at her surprised.

"Seriously?" He asked, "You don't want to ask about payment?"

"Not at all, Mister Zeedmore." Edith assured, "I've believed in all that for years now. You probably don't remember, but I was one of many who witnessed the Ghostbusters before you guys shut down. It was 1991 near Thanksgiving. My parents took me out of my bedroom informing me we had to evacuate. Once we went outside, I saw a giant Marshmallow Man climbing the building next to ours before it splattered Marshmallow Gunk across several city blocks. Seeing you guys in action like that, it's always made me a believer in the supernatural even after you guys disappeared. So when word came that you guys were back and that you were hiring, I decided I'd apply as soon as possible. Believe me, sir; I'm willing to do anything that you need me to do."

Winston smiled at how enthusiastic this woman was and how willing she was going to go for any work.

"Well, Ms. Munroe." He chuckled, "Glad to hear it." He shook her hand firmly, "Welcome aboard."

"Winston!" Ray called down, "Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah, Ray!" Winston assured, "Good news! We found a new secretary."

"Great!" Ray called, "You can bring her upstairs, we have a staff meeting."

As Winston and Edith went upstairs, they were unaware of the firehouse door opening quietly. If they had looked back, they might've seen a pink-transparent hand stretching towards one of the tables, and pulling back away with a spare ghost trap.

….

 _ **Soon…**_

Once introductions had been made for Edith, all eyes turned to Eden.

"So far, things have been a bit too easy." Eden pointed out.

"That's supposed to be a good thing, right?" Mike asked with a grin.

"It's disturbing." Eden pointed out, "But I think I have an explanation as to why we hadn't seen ghosts in so long, and what this all means."

She brought out a small plastic container which was holding the radiant slime. The others were quick to note that the slime had been frozen solid as one big block of slimed ice.

"After going back to investigate the memorial, I found there were still some samples of slime leftover. I brought it back and investigated. This slime has been altered on a molecular level by some outside forces."

"You mean somebody out there is altering slime?!" Winston asked.

"Correct." Eden explained, bringing them over to a board which featured photos and notes about the devices and slime, "Meaning that we can now confirm that somebody put the slime there. Meaning somebody's been purposefully blocking ghosts, and somebody's more than likely planning something bad for the world."

"So we got another megalomaniac on our hands." Ray pointed out, "That's just great. That means we have to sort through almost every sort of slime ball who tried to use the paranormal for evil throughout history, then see if they have any relatives who might share intrest in finishing their ancestor's plans."

Edith squinted her eyes at a photo of the device Vincent had pulled and suddenly remembered something.

"I recognize this!" She pointed out.

"You do?!" Ray asked, "From where?!"

Edith looked at the others surprised.

"Have you not seen anything besides yourself in the news these past few weeks?" She asked.

…

 _ **Later…**_

The group stood around the receptionist's computer as they watched a video featuring a small clean-energy company CEO named Dwight Francis as he stood before a stage full of people giving some kind of announcement.

" _We all spend millions of dollars to use energy."_ Dwight explained, _"To say nothing of what happens to people worldwide who can't afford the same technology. It gives me great pleasure to announce that those days for the world are officially over. As of now, my people have developed an all-new source of clean, renewable energy and made it a generator that can be used to power any heat, gas, cooling, or electrical device you might have."_

With that, an image appeared behind him of a device similar to the one that Vincent had pulled up.

" _My company has already mass-produced and shipped these devices for more people living in whatever part of the world they might come from and soon, America will be able benefit from this too for absolutely free as more cost-free generators are already being sent to nearly every state in America as well. It is my hope that this serves as a small step to achieving peace with foreign countries in a very delicate time. Thank you."_

With that, he left the stage.

"Who is this guy?" Vincent asked.

"Nobody knows where he came from." Edith admitted, as she closed the video, "Apparently the previous CEO turned up dead one day and left the company to Dwight Francis, citing him as an old friend."

"Yeah." Ray noted sarcastically, "That doesn't sound suspicious at all."

"Apparently he lives in New York currently." Edith added.

"I think it's time for us to have a chat with him." Mike pointed out.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Without hesitation, Edith answered.

"Ghostbusters." She replied, "How can we help you?"

Everyone listened closely as she nodded, taking notes.

"Okay. They'll take care of things. Thanks."

With that, she hung up and turned to the others.

"Looks like we have a call from Central Park." She noted, handing them the note.

"We'll look into this Dwight Francis guy and let you know what we find." Ray assured.

Eden was unhappy. She trusted Ray, but wanted to make sure he knew his own limits.

"Okay." She agreed, "But Dr. Stanz, if something goes wrong, get back to here imminently and let us know."

"Will do." Ray assured.

With that, the new Ghostbusters piled into Ecto-1 and took off. As the car left the firehouse, they were unaware of the man in the hat and trench coat watching before he snuck off, carrying a spare ghost trap with him.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know the courtroom scene was similar to the second film, but this was honestly the only way I could think of having the Ghostbusters make a triumphant return as well as point out some ideas I felt the new film should've focused on more like the question of what right the ghostbusters have to catch spirits. Not to mention this time Winston actually assisted. However, if you've read the spectacular IDW Ghostbusters series, the 2017 Annual actually has a story featuring what Winston was up to during the events of the courtroom scene in the second film and it's quite an interesting read. Judge Salvador was originally going to be the name of the ghost featured here, and I had an idea that the ghost would be throwing around old kid clothes, but I decided to ultimately dial it back down a notch and make the ghost featured here a fellow judge who was sentenced due to implied interactions with children. Anyways, next time Dwight Francis sets his plan into motion and one team member will pay the price? What will become of the city? Check back to find out! Again, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes ONLY, so please don't sue!**


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